Of Love and Moonlight
by Glitch Smokeside
Summary: Rose is bored. Bored of her uneventful, normal life. But what will happen when she meets a woman who will not only turn her world upside down, but show her her world was never what she thought it was to begin with? AU, Vampire!trolls.


_How tedious_. She thought from her perch on the couch. The party was upbeat and fun, but she just wasn't feeling it tonight. Her brothers took turns between keeping a background of upbeat fast music pumping and joining the guitar hero band that was rocking out in the living room. Currently, Dave was rocking on the bass next to Terezi on the drums. That had to be the most entertaining thing Rose had seen in awhile. The blind girl had insisted on playing the drums.

Though, she was doing pretty well at them. How, Rose would never know.

No, it wasn't a matter of tediousness or not. Mood or otherwise, she was just bored. Too used to these parties. Their sounds, the familiar sights, the same foods, the same setting.. she was desensitized from it all.

Rose took at sip of Dr. Pepper from her red plastic cup, and examined the black lipstick left on the rim. It was around ten last she checked. The party would die down soon.

Why she stayed home in the first place was beyond her; she normally went out with her other friends, fellow goths and children of literature that she found companionship with, to dark themed clubs or their own houses to delve into their shared interests. But tonight, this strange mood that bored her now had also compelled her to stay in for the night. To sit on the sofa and watch as the festivities went on around her. She occasionally made talk with some friends who wandered over, but her aloof, albeit not unfriendly mood shied them away and she was left to her own vices.

She watched Terezi nab the high score for the third time that evening, before she decided to head out to the other room, the more quiet living room, to look out the window and sketch the skyline. The city was beautiful at night, and she enjoyed the view they had from the 30th story. She liked to imagine story lines to go along with her sketches. Stories about the lost and wandering, the dark and the secretive lives they led. Something about the city at night whispered something about unspoken secrets, and she liked to fancy everyone who wandered at night had elusive back stories that she could piece together as she sketched. It was a hobby, anyway.

She stood up and smoothed her purple skirt, grabbed her empty red cup and made her way between the twitching, jumping bodies that had turned the spacious room into a makeshift dance floor. She went to the kitchen and threw her cup into the garbage, grabbing instead a bottled water, before heading to what she and her brothers called the second living room.

Really, it was the same room, but a wall and a badly placed doorway separated the two rooms. The other room was bigger, more spacious, lighter. It made for a good gathering room, whilst this one was small, with furniture and large windows that Rose had hung long curtains from. This was, next to her own room, her favorite room in the house, and as such many of the things she couldn't fit in her room, or rather, just didn't want to, were in here instead. Her large paint easel, many paints. Her knitting supplies and many, many notebooks and writing utensils. The boys had unspokenly accepted this was her part of the house.

She grabbed her sketchbook from the top of the TV and made her way to the large window on the other side of the room, and climbed onto the window seat, pulling her knees up and started sketching the scene before her.

The rhythm of the city was something else altogether. Every nick and cranny had a story that she could try to unravel. Every light was placed there for a purpose, and both illuminated things as well as hid them. Lights shone best in darkness, and so at night, the streetlamps and lit windows were bright and illuminated the people that walked under them. The brief moments when she could spy their faces, half hidden in shadow, gave her more than enough fodder to work her imaginings with.

Her pencil flew across the page, and she felt herself slip farther and farther away from reality. The noise of the party in the other room faded to silence, and the thoughts in her brain quieted. She existed in a world outside of her own. In a place where there was no need for thought or emotion. Just her and her pencil. The minor corrections, getting the right shape for certain things. The tiny lines and quick scratches. The internal battle between two lines that both looked good, the settling of decisions. It was almost as if the sketchbook controlled her hand, not the other way around. Here, in the world of her sketchbook, she was alone, and nothing mattered. There was no time, no space, nothing.

And she liked that very much.

No worries. No needs or desires. Just her and the image that took shape, line by line, perfection by perfection until it was done, complete, and there was nothing more to add to it.

It was so unlike reality. Where she was lonely, and she had worries like college and her job. And even beyond those trivial worries, she had other, major worries that rattled her to her core in the weakest of moments. The loneliness.. would it last forever? No? Until when, then?

It was unbearable, the boredom. The constant longing that something, anything, anyone would happen to her. Just to add spice to this dull stew called life.

So she would have companionship.

It was really all she wanted. All she needed, to make her life complete. She had many friends, all the material possessions she could ever long for, even a job she found stimulating and rewarding. It wasn't quite right though, and it felt like an incomplete circle some days. All she wanted was someone who could understand her on a spiritual and emotional level.

But in all reality, it didn't quite matter right now. She was perfectly content not having anyone right then. She was, after all, busy with school and work. And taking care of her two slobs of brothers. She was doing what she wanted, saving up for future dreams. It was nice as it could be, living almost on her own, doing what she wanted. She only wished, in some moments, for a spark of passion to shove its way into her sight. Everything, as nice and great as it was, lacked passion. Her stories, her fantasies she conjured in her head and in her sketchbook, could only fill that void so much.

_But alas, _she thought,_ that's life. That time will come, eventually. I must not forget to enjoy where I am now, after all. _

The noise of the party suddenly entered her ears, she she was thrust out of her own world and back into the real one. Again realizing where she was, she sighed, and took one last look at her sketchbook. It had come out nice, and she was happy with it. Perhaps she'd show Jane later at school.

She set her sketchbook back on top of the TV, and left the room to head back to the kitchen, and peered into the other living room.

It had died down quite a bit, but the noise had picked up again, and now she saw why. More people had arrived. A group of three.

She recognized two, Her brother's friend John's girlfriend, Vriska, and guy named Tavros, who she knew through Dave's frienemy Gamzee. With them, they had a girl she didn't recognize.

She had a lovely, if not a bit sunless looking complexion of rich, flawless dark skin. It was a lovely shade of tan, but it had the kind of pallid sallowness to it that suggested she didn't go outside much. Her hair was black and shiny, and cut shoulder length with side bangs. She presented herself stylishly, with a green neckerchief and a long black dress that hung off her shoulders and clung to her waist. Rose couldn't see her face very well, surrounded as she was by people.

She shrugged, not caring much more about the addition of people, and grabbed a handful of finger food from the table in the kitchen before she went back into the crowd of people and returned to her couch. She almost regretted that more people had turned up; it meant the party would go on longer than she'd hoped.

She looked around at the people here, a listed their names in her head. _Dave and Dirk, Aradia, Tavros, Sollux, Karkat, Terezi, Vriska, Gamzee, Eridan and Feferi. John, Jake, and me. Oh, and the new girl that came with Vriska and Tavros._ Not to mention a few other kids Dave had invited from his work, and Dirk had invited from his classes.

She watched as the newcomers three chatted with the group, and watched the dynamics between them all, in indifferent analysis.

Her brothers, Dave and Dirk, had a lot of friends. And between those friends, there were good friends, and well.. not so good friends. Between the lot of them there were many relationships that had fallen through and become bitter.

For instance, her brother Dave was dating Terezi, the blind Asian girl on the drums. Her ex was Dave's friend Karkat, a short, angry boy. Dave and Karkat's friendship was awkward for awhile after Terezi and Dave started dating.

Her other brother Dirk's ex-boyfriend Jake was a giant flirt, and Dirk still, even this long after they'd broken up, had feelings for him, and everyone knew that, so it was a constant strain on all of their friends when Jake came to parties and got a wee bit of alcohol in his system.

Beyond that, both Dave and Terezi hated Karkat's best friend Gamzee, a tall, clownish stoner who, in Rose's opinion, livened these parties up with his positive attitude, though he was well liked by most others.

Karkat's other friend, a nerd named Sollux, was secretly two-timing Dirk's best friend Roxy, and Tavros's friend Aradia, and everyone but the girls knew about it. Another boy named Eridan, who nobody was really friends with per se, but he was in the group, hated Sollux because his own ex-girlfriend, who he was still hung up on, also wanted part of the Sollux pie. Everyone also knew that he himself wanted a piece of the pie as well.

Gamzee also had a crush on Tavros, who was oblivious to it, and in turn, had a crush on Vriska, who was John's girlfriend.

Really, their group of friends was very entertaining. Rose took a sip out of her water bottle and continued to munch on her finger food out of boredom. Her eyes wandered over the crowd, avoiding eye contact with a group of douchebags Dave had invited. One of them she particularly didn't like, because he was loud. She silently wished he wouldn't see her.

Her eyes came to rest on the new girl, and she finally was able to make out her features.

_She's stunning._

Plump lips shined with black lipstick, and her flawless skin stretched over a round nose and lovely cheekbones. Her eyes were made up with smokey eye shadow, and eyeliner. They were shockingly vibrant green.

_Simply beautiful._

She watched the new girl exchange some words with Karkat, and joked with Terezi. Her smile was breath taking, and Rose smiled at the increase of her pulse. She'd have to introduce herself. Later, when the girl was alone.

Suddenly a cloud of fabric plopped down next to her, and she heard a huff of exhaustion.

"Hi, Rose!" Smiled a cheerful face.

"Hello, Feferi." She smiled back at the bouncy girl. "How are you this evening?"

"Tired, but you know, having fun!" The dark skinned girl beamed out at everybody. "Your brothers always throw fun parties!"

"Yes, if there's one thing they excell at, it's making potentially dull social gatherings quite fun." She agreed. "It makes up for their lack of taste in music." She said dryly.

Feferi burst out laughing, he face crunched up. "Oh my! Glub!" She giggled, glancing at the twins across the room. "It's so mean, but so true!"

Rose chuckled. "Yes. As their sister, I'm entitled to say that as many times as I want, whenever I want. The privileges of being family."

Feferi grinned, smoothing out her large, fluffy skirt. "I only have Meenah, and she's kick my butt if I said things like that to her!"

"Meenah is, perhaps, not the best person to criticize all the time." Rose smiled knowingly back. Having found a stop of flow in conversation, she asked her question. "Do you know the name of that girl, there?" She gestured to the new girl, who was chatting with Tavros on the other couch, sipping from a water bottle.

"Who?" Rose pointed again. "Oh! You don't know her? That's Kanaya!"

"Kanaya." Rose repeated, tasting the word on her tongue, and deciding she like it. "That's a pretty name."

"Yeah, she's into fashion and reading and stuff! I think you two would get along."

"Maybe." Rose ventured, giving Feferi a long stare. "Who is she friends with? I haven't seen her before."

"Oh, she's not really the party type. She prefers to be working on her latest projects and stuff. Today, Vriska dragged her here by bullying Tav, and she's the kind who will come to the rescue."

"That's awfully kind of her."

"Yeah, she's really nice, but she's very protective of her friends." Feferi leaned closer to her, preparing to gossip. "She and Vriska dated awhile back. No one knows why they ended it, but they still hang out all the time." She glanced back at Tav and Kanaya on the other couch. "Sometimes we wonder if they're just on again off again kind of dating, but no one knows!"

Rose felt minor disappointment in her gut that she pushed away. She'd have to get to know her before she pried further into her love life.

"Interesting, I suppose."

"Yeah." Feferi said, looking at Rose curiously. "Why did you wanna know?"

Rose smiled at her, feeling a tad mischievous. She put a finger to her lips. "No reason, Feferi."

Feferi's eyes widened in comprehension, and she writhed in excitement.

"Oh! Oh. Oh!" She sat on her hands and shook back and forth. "Excuse me, Rose, I have to call Nepeta!" The ditzy girl sprang to her feet and ran out of the room, and Rose watched her go in amusement. She'd tell Nepeta, but no one else. Nepeta would keep quiet to see how things panned out.

Rose's eyes traveled back to the girl, no, Kanaya. She sat still chatting with Tavros. Rose watched her on and off for the better part of the next twenty minutes, until Tavros left to go hang out with Gamzee. Rose saw her chance, and rose to her feet.

"Hello." She smiled, trying to appear friendly. "May I sit here?"

Kanaya looked up, and Rose took in her appearance fully for the first time. Large, vivid eyes, white, pearly teeth. _Ravishing_.

"Of course." Kanaya smiled politely, and Rose sat next to her.

"I'm Rose Lalonde." She smiled.

"Kanaya." She returned the smile.

Rose turned away in companionable silence to sip on her drink. Both she and Kanaya watched as Tavros took over the drums, the perfect height in his wheelchair to rock out. Terezi moved on the microphone, and they started playing Bohemian Rhapsody. Kanaya and Rose shared a few amused looks between them as the song went on.

"So," Rose said after the song and their laughter died away. "How do you know my brothers?"

Kanaya looked at her curiously? "Your brothers?"

"Dave and Dirk." Rose pointed to where the two were bickering over the music station. "The blond idiots?"

"Oh!" Rose saw the barest hint of a blush creep onto her delicate cheeks. "I did not know you were related. I am sorry." Rose noted how she spoke. It was strange, proper. She was probably from and old money kind of family.

"It's fine. We don't look very similar after all." Rose smiled, and she looked relieved that she hadn't offended her. "I take after my mother, and they after our father."

"Ah, is that so? I am not close friends with your brothers; I only know them through Tavros there," she pointed to Tavros, who had wheeled himself up to Dave, and was chatting with him. It looked like he was suggesting something.

"I see." Rose smiled. "So you're friends with Tavros?"

"Yes." Kanaya smiled back at her. She seemed happy to have found somebody who didn't find the way she spoke to be strange, and was opening up to her. Rose was glad of it; she seemed shyer than she had first suspected. "We are childhood friends."

"I see. I did see you come in with Vriska and Tavros, so I assumed you knew them somehow. I just wasn't sure if you knew my brothers."

"I have heard of them plenty, but I do not go out to parties much. This is strange to me, but I decided to tag along tonight." Kanaya smiled politely, and Rose knew the reason for her stiffness.

"I heard, if you'll forgive my prying," Rose said lightly, "that you were dragged along tonight by Vriska," Rose pointed to where the spider-obsessed girl was dancing with Terezi, both a bit more aggressive than friendly. "because she was bullying Tavros again?"

Kanaya frowned a bit. "Yes, well. She can be a bit extreme in her jokes, and I was aware that Tavros was not in the best of moods for it tonight."

"Forgive me, I just thought that was a nice thing to do. Goodness knows Tavros' backbone can be a bit wobbly in the best of times."

Kanaya's frown lightened, and she smiled in amusement. "Thank you." They sat in silence for a few moments before Kanaya spoke up. "Just out of pure curiosity, who was it that told you that?"

Rose smiled. "Our dear Feferi."

Kanaya smiled and shook her head. "She is rather bubbly, that one."

"Oi!" Kanaya and Tavros looked towards where the shout came from, and saw Dirk standing on the couch. "We're gonna have a fucking karaoke party over here! Everyone gather 'round the TV!"

The whole crowd began to walk past them, to the other side of the living room. Dirk scanned the crowd of friends, and spotted Rose sitting on the couch. "You too, Rose!" All eyes turned to her.

"Make it worth my while!" Rose shouted back, smiling. Dirk grinned.

"$50! To the best duet! Everyone get a partner!" Everyone started gossiping excitedly. "As long as I beat you, and I will, there is no challenge!"

"I'd like to see that, Dirk!" Rose snickered, and stood to her feet. She looked down at Kanaya, eyes warm towards her new friends. "Would you like to be my partner?" She held out her hand graciously.

Kanaya seemed a bit flustered, but took her hand readily enough, and they followed the crowd towards the TV. Everyone scrambled for about ten minutes, until teams of two and singing order were worked out, and then they started competing. When it was Rose and Kanaya's turn, she was pleasantly surprised to find the green eyes beauty had an equally beautiful voice. Together, they beat Dirk and Karkat's team by a few points, but graciously lost to Gamzee and Tavros' rap off. Rose was happy to discover she was genuinely enjoying herself. Perhaps it was because Kanaya was right there next to her, giggling at every silly thing she was. It was a pleasant change in company.

_I could get used to this, I think._


End file.
